Australia wishes to elevate its relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam and beef up bilateral cooperation in all key fields, Australian Ambassador Andrew Goledzinowski affirmed in his recent article.

“Vietnam is important to Australia’s economic future,” Goledzinowski wrote in his article titled 'ASEAN Is Coming to Australia!' recently delivered to the Vietnamese media.

The writing was released ahead of the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, which marks 50 years of Australia-ASEAN ties, and the trip by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse Le Thi Bich Tran to Australia for the event as well as an official visit to the country from March 5 to 9.

“As the relationship between Australia and ASEAN goes from strength to strength, we are ambitious about our relationship with Vietnam,” the ambassador to Vietnam said in the article. 

Elaborating that the special summit, with the 'A Partnership for the Future’ theme, will focus on four key areas, namely business, emerging leaders, climate and clean energy, and maritime cooperation, the diplomat said such aspects reflect shared priorities in the Australia-Vietnam relationship.

“We look forward to elevating our relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership and enhancing cooperation across key fields including climate change, digital transformation, trade and investment, critical minerals, and education,” the article reads.

Goledzinowski added that the summit will also provide special opportunities to highlight people-to-people connections between Australia and Vietnam.

As the Vietnamese community in Australia has reached 350,000 people, Vietnamese has become the fourth-most commonly used language in Australia, contributing to the cultural diversity of the country, he wrote.

Recalling the prominent and special role of education in the bilateral relationship, the Australian ambassador said tens of thousands of Vietnamese students have benefited from Australia's commitment to education in Vietnam.

Many opportunities remain untapped and Australia looks forward to continuing to cooperate with Vietnam to bring the best results to students and educational institutions in both countries, the ambassador stated.

Following the summit in Melbourne, the Vietnamese government chief and his spouse will arrive in Canberra as the Australian government’s guests, the ambassador wrote.

He said he welcomes the Vietnamese delegation led by PM Chinh to Australia to build on the significant achievements the two countries celebrated last year to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations. 

“I am proud to highlight the strength of the Australia-Vietnam partnership, and to show the Vietnamese delegation the true Aussie hospitality in my beautiful country,” he concluded. 

Vietnam and Australia established diplomatic relations in February 1973 and the two countries set up a comprehensive partnership in 2009.

Six years later, the relationship was lifted to an enhanced comprehensive partnership before being upgraded to a strategic partnership in March 2018.

Australia is one of the bilateral partners providing the largest non-refundable ODA to Vietnam, as well as offering many scholarship programs to Vietnamese students.

​Currently, Australia is Vietnam’s seventh-largest trading partner and Vietnam is Australia’s 10th-largest commercial partner.

By the end of December 2023, Australia had 621 investment projects worth over US$2 billion in Vietnam, ranking 20th among 143 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian country. 

Meanwhile, Vietnam developed 92 projects in Australia with a total investment of $552.7 million, registering the 11th position out of 80 foreign investors there, according to official figures.

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